Is my A20M dead?

[dedge]

Hi. I have a 5-year old A20M type 2628. Over the last two or three years it occasionally refused to boot up, but taking out and reinstalling the main battery always fixed it. Apart from that, it worked fine.

A couple of days ago when I pressed the on button the disk activity light flashed for a moment (but no sound from the drive)--then nothing.
I've removed and reinstalled the main battery, checked its output, and tried the A20M with no main battery but with the power supply lead connected. Still the same symptoms. I also checked the output from the backup battery, which was 2.87V. (Would have thought this was close enough to 3V.)

Is this a dead motherboard? Or is there anything else I need to check before reaching that conclusion? Would welcome any suggestions.

Thanks.

Dedge

[chalrie_hng]

I have the similar symptom but problem solved with one of the memory module replaced. Normally I close the lid of my A20M and let the system slip into standby mode. When I need it, I open the lid and the system comes right back on so I don't have to wait. It had been no problem until last month. In my case, the system is using the RAM to store system state for a very long time so even the lid is closed, the RAM are charged without a break. Gradually one of the weaker module couldn't hold it and affected the operation. Thinkpad has a very unique power management design which remembers previous system state if you power off and on in a short duration. A defective RAM couldn't remember part of the it, just like a man lost partial memory. He talks, works, but he might've forgot how to walk. Don't doubt on Thinkpad's quality. My other RAM has been working even longer than the A20M and still works like a horse. In you case, you may want to remove all modules like Ethernet/Modem, CD-ROM, PC card, and memory modules. If you can, also remove/reinstall CMOS battery. But system won't boot without a healthy CMOS battery installed. Purge the electicity in system by unplug power, removing battery and push power button several times. Let it rest for at least 10 min. This would erase all previous memory. If you have two memory sticks, mark them and put only one back in slot then power on. If you got good result, test the other memory. I believe you should be able to catch the problem.

I would say put the motherboard as the last consideration. I've been tweaking A20M, A21M, T20. Even though new laptops' carry more advanced features with lower prices, I am still sticking with A20M. Because we know so we love Thinkpad.